Identity
by Ares Is Awesome
Summary: Ten years since the war. Gregor has not been heard from since being carted up to the Overland by his mother. This is what was believed, until Sylar, a Halflander, was born. Fearing banishment, Luxa flees, leaving Sylar with Hazard. Fifteen years later...
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: The Underland Chronicles? Not mine. Hazard, Luxa, Aurora, Ripred, Gregor? Not mine. Anyone else from the series? Also not mine. Places and other things? Most definitely not mine. They're all Suzanne's. Unless I made them. In which case, they are mine.**

* * *

**PROLOGUE  
**

_**H**azard was awakened by a flier at his window, high up in the palace._

_"Hazard?" a voice whispered urgently. "Hazard, are you awake?"_

_ He opened his lime green eyes to see his cousin in front of him, a small bundle in her arms.  
_

_"Will you look after him? The Deadlands are not a place for a child."_

_"Why do you even have to leave?" __the seventeen year old asked, rubbing his jet black head._

_"They will banish me or kill me, you know this. He is not my husband's son. Aurora and I are leaving now. Will you do this for me?" His cousin looked so desperate, he agreed._

_"Thank you so much, Hazard. I will do my best to return, but it will not be for some time." She looked so relieved, Hazard felt good about what he was supposed to do. "Can you promise me one thing?"_

_"Anything."_

_"Please do not let him know who his parents are. Not until he's older."_

_Hazard nodded, accepting the bundle from his cousin's arms. "You have my word." _

_"You have no idea what a great service this is for me," she said,climbing back on her flier._

_"It is fine," Hazard said, smiling a little. "Fly you high!" _

_Luxa looked so regretful flying away from her son, it almost seemed as if she were going to turn around that moment. But she didn't._


	2. Chapter 2

**Fifteen years later...**

* * *

"Uncle Hazard, I'm back!" Sylar grinned as he entered their room. He lived with his uncle since he was a baby, since his parents had been killed by rats. Returning from training in the arena with his bond, Helios, Sylar was in an extremely good mood. He carelessly brushed his dark hair out of his eyes. He was different from most of the humans down here. While his eyes were the same violet color, his hair was muddy, unlike the normal silvery-blond. He was most like Uncle Hazard, who had jet black hair, even though his eyes were a vibrant green. 

"Uncle Hazard?" he called out again, this time in Gnawer. His uncle was great at languages, and made sure that Sylar was fluent in every language that he could speak. He made Sylar use them, too, for practice.

"I'm in here," Hazard responded in crawler. Sylar found him in their small dining area at the table, arms folded, seemingly in thought.

"What's wrong, Uncle?" Sylar asked, in Spinner this time.

Hazard sighed. He thought for a moment, before speaking in Hisser. "It is time you got your answers."

Sylar did not even need to ask what the answers were for, he knew they were for the questions he'd asked since he was a baby. Who his parents were, why they had been killed by rats if there was peace, why the information was kept secret until then.

Speaking again, in Nibbler this time, Hazard seemed conflicted. "I made a promise, though. A promise not to tell. I intend to keep it." Sylar's face fell. "However, there is somebody who, I am certain, would not mind sharing. A gnawer. His cave is around a two hour flight from here. Helios knows the way. I believe he should be waiting for you in the High Hall"

"This was planned?" That came out in Human.

"Somewhat," Hazard said in cutter, nodding.

Sylar dashed out of the room, his sword already on his belt. "Goodbye, Uncle Hazard!" he called out in flier, as he sprinted to the High Hall.

* * *

A/N: I know the chapters are REALLY short, but I promise to write quickly. 


	3. Chapter 3

_Should I have told him? _Hazard thought uneasily, stroking his goatee. _Everyone has the right to know who their parents are. Or do they need to know? He's nearly sixteen, he can handle the truth._

"I just don't know," he sighed, even though there was no one around to listen.

_What is done is done. I cannot go back on it, and Sylar will not stop until he reaches his goal._

* * *

It was nearly time. Time to return. She could feel it, like an internal calender, telling her how long she'd spent here. Fifteen years, eleven months, twenty-three days. Just about time. A hollow smile formed for a split second on her lips. The pair would return. 

"It is time," a low purr whispered behind her.

Nodding, she responded. "I was just about to say the same. Shall we?"

"We shall."

With equal elegance and grace as twenty five years ago, she jumped into the air, flipping once before being swept up by the flier.

* * *

The red and gold bat briefly locked it's claw in Sylar's hand before the human grabbed a torch and climbed on. 

"Do you know where we are going?" the human asked his bond as they took off out of the High Hall.

The bat looked somewhat regretful. "Yes, I do. I apologize for not telling you, but your uncle had me promise to keep it a secret."

Sylar felt bad about making his bond feel bad, intentionally or not. He tired to dismiss it with a half-hearted laugh. "It is fine. I meant nothing by it, I do not mind."

Helios appeared unconvinced, so Sylar tried a more serious approach.

"Really, it is fine." His voice was completely level.

"I am sorr--"

Sylar cut him off. "Just forget about it. I do not mind. Surprise, no surprise, we'd be going here now anyway. So I am glad I was surprised."

The awkwardness remained for the whole two hour flight, as neither of them said anything more.

The cave Helios landed at was somewhat small for a nest of gnawers; it must be just one solitary rat living here. The ceiling was around eight feet tall, a bit small for a gnawer to live in, with the walls around eighteen feet across. Sylar couldn't tell how deep.

"Is anyone there?" he called out, dismounting his bond.

There was no reply. He called out again, this time in Gnawer.

"Well, well, well," a world-weary voice spoke from the shadows. "Looks like we have another multi-lingual Halflander."

A large scarred rat stepped into the torchlight. Two diagonal scars crossed over it's right eye in an X.

"You're..." Sylar began, thinking of what he was about to call the rat.

"A legend, a hero, a rager, the Peacemaker, Ripred the Great, or maybe even handsome?" The rat finished for him, before sitting down.

Sylar sighed. "Sarcastic."

"Really? I never would have thought."

"Look, I came here for a reason. Information. Uncle Hazard said you could help. And I'm not leaving without it." Sylar glared at Ripred.

"Pushy pushy. Just like your daddy. Oh, and that look! I haven't seen that look in nearly sixteen years before today!" Ripred cackled.

Sylar's death stare softened a bit at the mention of his parents. The rat had known them. "Who are they?" His voice was soft and somewhat pleading, desparate sounding.

"Let's start from the top. The War of Bane some twenty-five years ago. Heard of it? You humans call it the War of Time, anyway. You know it? Overlander Warrior, Bane, Code of Claw, your uncle helped break that,plus everyone's favorite Peacemaker. You get the idea. Well the Overlander was dragged up to the Overland, and nobody saw him since. We thought that for ten years, before you decided to show up."

Sylar felt like he'd been hit in the chest. Hard. His father was an Overlander? That explained his hair. And the warrior, his father was the warrior. What news that was. He didn't know how he felt, other than weird. Very weird.

"Who is my mother then?" he finally got out.

The rat gave a deep sniff, eyes widening in surprise. "Oh! About that..." Ripred began, clearly knowing something Sylar didn't.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N" Short, but necessarily so. I apologize.

* * *

"Speak of the Devil and the Devil will appear! Even after so long." Sylar was very confused by both the Overland expression and Ripred's meaning. The rat turned to him. "Wait here. I'll be right back."

He rushed out of the cave, leaving Sylar to ponder what he'd said. What was that phrase? Summon the Devil and the Devil appears? What did that even mean? Ripred shouted at something outside his cave, and after five or so minutes, Sylar was summoned outside.

"Come here, Sylar, and be quiet," The rat commanded.

"How do you know my name?" Sylar demanded.

"I know everything," Ripred said simply.

Standing in front of him was a woman in her late thirties, a thin gold band encompassing her head. Behind her was a golden bat, presumably her bond.It appeared as though Ripred had forced her to cover her eyes with her hands.

"What is the meaning of this, Ripred?" she asked, clearly not in the mood. If Ripred's sardonic voice had seemed world-weary, her voice made her seem as though she had endured several lifetimes of suffering. The rat seemed to understand this, and even sympathize a little bit. He made the introduction brief.

"Your Highness, oh, no, I mean Luxa, meet Sylar. Sylar, meet your mother."

The woman dropped her hands from in front of her face, and for a split second Sylar found himself staring into the exact same piercing eyes as his. But then, violet eyes wide in shock, she fell backward, fainting.


	5. Chapter 5

"Luxa!" The golden bat rushed forward immediately to try to break the woman's-- no, his mother's--fall. She was far away, though. Sylar moved forward to catch her before she hit the stone, and gently lowered her down. 

"I didn't see that coming," Ripred announced somewhat uninterestedly, examining his claws.

His mother was a Queen. His father was the warrior. He was a Halflander. Mother. Father. It felt weird for Sylar to think those words. Sylar knelt over his mother, closing his eyes in thought.

_ My parents are Queen Luxa and Gregor the Warrior. My parents are Queen Luxa and Gregor the Warrior. My parents are Queen Luxa and Gregor the Warrior. _Sylar kept repeating it over and over in his head, but the concept of parents still felt alien to him. _Parents. I have parents_. A confused voice brought him out of his thoughts.

"Gregor?" Luxa, his mother, _mother, _was staring hard at him, clearly confused.

"No, I am not Gregor," he told her, shaking his head negative.

Looking into his eyes, it seemed as though something clicked inside of her. Sylar held eye contact. He finally understood why Uncle Hazard would sometimes spend minutes just staring into his eyes.

"Then you are Sylar?"

Nodding, Sylar confirmed it. "I am Sylar."

Those words didn't have much of a meaning before that moment, but all of a sudden, they had a very deep effect.

_What does it mean to be Sylar? Who was he really? I am Sylar, son of Gregor the Overlander Warrior and Ex-Queen Luxa, main players in the war twenty-five years ago. I am a Halflander. My uncle Hazard raised me, and is a Halflander, also. My Uncle Howard governs the Fount, works at the hospital, and seems to be very uncomfortable around me.__ My bond is Helios.__ I am almost sixteen. But what does all that mean? What did any of that mean?_

"Touching as this conversation is, I need to leave for a few hours, and I don't like strangers in my nest when I'm not around," Ripred drawled, voice dripping with sarcasm.

Luxa sat up, looking the gray rat right in the eyes.

"You would shun your own bond and her son from your nest when they have nowhere to go? What if I were killed? You'd be charged with breaking of the bonds." Her voice was direct and to the point, cutting down Ripred's defensive statements.

The rat smiled shrewdly, and with a mocking glance that seemed to say "two can play at that game", began to retort. "What would I be sentenced to, Your High-- no, Luxa? Living in the Deadlands alone? Look around you. Where do you think I'd be moved to?"

"I am sure the current ruler can always find somewhere unpleasent. Maybe a pit in the firelands. And I would bet you would love to see. Or maybe, you would rather get on the good side of the only beings in the Underland capable of making shrip and cream sauce.

"And I would bet you'd love to stay here while I go out," Ripred decided suddenly. "I'm sure you four can find something to talk about."

The rat gave them a curt nod before sprinting off to who-knows-where.


End file.
